


Cause it’s a bitter sweet symphony this life

by wishboneluck



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Betrayal, Drinking, F/M, Gen, Heartbreak, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-27
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-02-07 04:49:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18613477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wishboneluck/pseuds/wishboneluck
Summary: Kyle finally takes time to date but his new girlfriend may not be who she says she is. He has good friends and realizations along the way.





	Cause it’s a bitter sweet symphony this life

“So there’s this girl at work,” Kyle confesses, sliding his hand up and down the beer bottle and doing his best to avoid eye contact.  
   
He isn’t sure if he and Alex are at this place in their slowly reforming friendship but they both so many of each other’s secrets already he can’t help but want to open up.  
   
“Oh god,” Alex says with a laugh but when Kyle looks up Alex is smiling and gesturing with his own beer for him to continue.  
   
“I don’t know really,” he shrugs. “I haven’t really had time for dating. There was Liz in high school, getting over Liz in college, and then med school doesn’t leave time for dating.”  
   
“And I imagine being a surgeon while also continuing our families’ legacies doesn’t leave much time for anything either,” Alex interprets.  
   
Kyle nods and allows himself a bit of a smile. Their current lives are a bit funny if you don’t think about the horrific aspects.  
   
“Exactly, and well she’s kind of . . . coy, which isn’t normally my type at all.”  
   
Growing up with both of his parents being cops, being so close to the military Manes family and his first love being someone as straight forward as Liz Ortecho, coy has never been his thing. He watches as Alex nods in what he interprets as understanding since he very much doubts coy is Alex’s type either.  
   
“There’s just something about her though,” he continues and it drives him crazy that he can’t quite put his finger on what that something is.  
   
He’s a man of science, he likes having answers.  
   
“Okay then, what’s the problem? Because you work together?”  
   
Kyle shakes his head. Despite recent revelations his parents worked together their whole marriage and that hadn’t been the cause of any issues and there aren’t any rules against dating co-workers at the hospital.  
   
‘With everything going on, I don’t know if I really have time for any of that.”  
   
Alex rolls his eyes, no time whatsoever to be lied to.  
   
“If that was it you wouldn’t be coming to me about it.”  
   
Kyle relents much more quickly that he intended.  
   
“Okay, well with all of . . . this going on. What if she finds out? I mean, how would you react?”  
   
Which okay, not the best question to ask the guy whose ex-boyfriend is an alien and is also in the same exact situation as him. Maybe a bit worse since his father is alive and a sociopath. Alex’s raised eyebrows are reply to the question enough and Kyle sighs.  
   
“Hypothetically, or imagine what you’d have done before you found this all out.”  
   
Alex acquiesces.  
   
“Hypothetically, I’d be pretty freaked out. But it’s Roswell, we’ve been told these stories our whole lives. Hell, we even have an alien museum. It’s not completely out of left field.”  
   
“Good points, but she’s not from here.”  
   
“Now you’re just fishing for excuses,” Alex picks up his beer and smirks. “And you’re still a piss poor fisherman.”  
   
“I was eight when I fell in!”  
   
Alec snickers. “Yeah because of that too heavy boot caught on your line.”  
   
They laugh together, Kyle remembers the joy of thinking he’d caught a big one only to end up soaking wet and nothing to show for it. Alex had given him his towel though and put his arm around him to let him know he’d get one for sure if they worked together.  
   
They didn’t, but it had been a good day nonetheless.  
   
“We should do it again sometime. A day out on the lake.”  
   
“Ask out the girl and supply the beer then I’m in.”  
   
Kyle smiles. “Deal.”  
   
Turns out, he doesn’t even have to do the asking. They’re next shift together she pulls him aside and does the hard part for him.  
   
When he takes no time at all responding with a yes. She beams at him and he has no doubts at all.  
   
   
   
Okay, maybe he has a few doubts. But Alex helps him with a roll of his eyes as he helps him pick out a nice shirt (even compliments his choices) and gives him good places for a first date.  
   
Or more likely a list of places not to go which is helpful in its own way.  
   
“And most importantly,” Alex emphasizes as he finishes helping button his shirt and smoothing out his collar. “No alien talk until the third date.”  
   
“I can manage that.”  
   
He can manage it. However it turns out Kate cannot.  
   
“Have you ever been the alien museum?” She asks, as they drive around town after what he is pretty sure was a successful dinner. She’s still here and wanting to spend more time with him.  
   
“Not since I was a kid. It’s not really interesting.”  
   
“Well I heard it had a grand reopening. Maybe it’s interesting now.”  
   
“Maybe,” he replies because he can’t tell her how much he hates the very idea of the place.  
   
“We can find out on our second date?”  
   
And well he can’t really say no to that.  
   
They go the The Crashdown because where else does one go before visiting the alien museum?  
   
“She has nice eyebrows,” Liz comments as he comes up to the counter to grab their shakes. Kate is sat at their booth in the corner and when he turns to look back at her she waves at them.  
   
He turns back to Liz who appears to be thoughtful.  
   
“I guess I’ll pass that along.”  
   
Liz laughs. “She’s pretty and going by the scrubs I guess you met at the hospital?”  
   
Kyle nods. “What can I say? I like a woman in uniform.”  
   
He tugs at her uniform jokingly and she smiles.  
   
“Well I hope she’s good to you.”  
   
He wishes he could say the same in response to her but with her dating Max it’d be a lie she’d see right through. Maybe some other guy but he doubts he’ll ever not feel conflicted on the three alien siblings.  
   
“Thank you. I hope so too.”  
   
She smiles at him and he knows despite all the changes they’ve been through there will always be a part of him that is in love with her. Who wouldn’t be?  
   
“On the house,” she says with a wink as he fishes out his wallet.  
   
He nods in thanks, grabbing the shakes and carrying them to Kate, she smiles in delight.  
   
“You do know they have waitresses who bring this stuff to you right? Are you sure you’re from here?” She teases and gestures as Mr. Ortecho takes a platter of food to the table behind them.  
   
“Well yeah, but I get special treatment when I talk to Liz.”  
   
“Are you two close?” She takes a sip of her shake but he knows what’s really being asked.  
   
He hopes it’s not a problem because anyone who has an issue with his closeness with Liz will just have to deal with it.  
   
“She’s a good friend . . . and my ex,” he waits for her reaction.  
   
Kate just nods and seems to take it in stride. And again, Kyle feels like things are going well. He really likes her and was terrified that could have dampened things.  
   
   
The trip to the museum is as painful as he figured it would be. Mostly because it’s boring and completely off base. It’s the stuff that’s much closer to fact that makes him cringe because of how brutal it is. Luckily Kate appears to be in full tourist mode and is more interested in the fun, completely wrong aspects.  
   
“What do you think?” She laughs, trying on the alien ears from the gift shop.  
   
“I think you look absolutely ridiculous,” he kisses her. “But also you kind of make them work.”  
   
“I think so too.”  
   
   
“You know it’s funny,” she confesses later, her alien ears in a bag. “I’m from Cape Girardeau, and we supposedly had a UFO crash too but we don’t have anything like this.”  
   
He kisses her good night and perhaps it leads to a little more but for some reason when he leaves, he feels like something isn’t right.  
   
On their forth date, he takes her to The Wild Pony because if there’s anyone out there who can scope something out it’s Maria DeLuca.  
They sit at the bar and Maria is as friendly as fiery as always. He’s feeling a bit better until Maria pulls him aside to warn him to not put his eggs all in one basket. She can’t tell what it is but she can sense Kate is conflicted about something.  
It’s their fifth date. Well the morning after their fifth date but he likes to think it counts as one long date when the topic comes up again.  
   
“So do you believe in any of this stuff?”  
   
He looks up from where he’s plating their breakfast to see she has some alien documentary pulled up.  
   
“Well I think I made my opinion pretty clear on that already. It’s ridiculous.”  
   
He joins her on the couch and hands her her breakfast, putting an arm around her.  
   
“What about you?”  
   
She shrugs. “I think it has a lot of merit.”  
   
And that bad feeling from a few dates ago grows.  
   
It’s a few weeks later when he knows he has to stop ignoring his instincts, badly as he wants to.  
   
He’s arrived at the hospital only to discover he’s forgotten his badge at Alex’s. Alex offered to bring it to him as he has a day off and Kyle doesn’t want to be even later.  
   
“Was that Alex Manes?” She asks, walking into the parking lot. Their shifts are reversed this week, her leaving as he’s coming in.  
   
He nods. “You know of him?”  
   
She blinks. “Well yeah, there a lot of them right?”  
   
“Yeah there are.”  
   
“And he’s a war hero, I heard there was a parade.”  
   
“Yep.”  
   
“I bet his dad was proud,” and Kyle knows he has to call Alex as soon as his shift is over, maybe even before.  
   
“Well the good news is, her real name is Kate and she is actually a surgeon.” Alex explains, it taking nearly no time for him to find her records.  
   
“And the bad news?”  
   
Alex turns the computer.  
   
“She’s a surgeon for more than just people.”  
   
Kyle wants to throw up. He wants to punch a wall. Most of all he wants to kill Jesse Manes.  
   
   
“So what? You think Alex’s dad sent this girl to what, seduce you?” Liz looks concerned and sad for him as Max’s eyebrows twitch.  
   
“I’m not sure why. Maybe he thinks we know more than we do or he’s trying to find out how close we are to finding another facility.”  
   
“Well is there any way you can use this? Use her to find out what he knows?” Max, ever the cop, asks.  
   
Kyle shakes his head, looks down at his hands.  
   
Liz puts her hand on his shoulder.  
   
“You loved her.”  
Kyle sighs. What he felt doesn’t matter now. Never did apparently.  
   
   
“You figured it out,” she whispers. And he expected her to be a lot colder about it than she is. After all this was just a mission or something to her.  
   
He doesn’t reply. Doesn’t know how to.  
   
“You’ve been pulling away and I think I know why.”  
   
“Does it matter? Figured you’ll be leaving soon anyway. This all feels pretty temporary to you.”  
   
She puts her hand on his face and he jerks away.  
   
“It was supposed to be.”  
   
He shakes his head. “It is.”  
   
“It doesn’t have to be! If you’d just listen to him.” 

“Listen to Jesse Manes? I have known that man my entire life. I am done listening to anything he says. I know what he’s done to people, to good people, hell even to his own son.”

“I know about that, okay? Sergeant Manes isn’t hiding anything. Everything he’s done for Alex was to protect him. That alien -“

“You don’t know anything! And Jesse has never done anything to protect anyone but himself. Not his sons, not his country and not my father.”

For the first time in this conversation, she looks stricken. 

“You know about that?” Her voice shakes and there are tears in her eyes.

“Yes, and you can go on and report that to your leader. This,” he gestures wildly so she knows it encompasses more than just this conversation, “is over.”

And he walks away. 

“I’m sorry.”

He doesn’t respond.

“And I haven’t told him anything.”

  
“Do you believe her?” Alex asks as he sits behind him on the couch. 

Kyle is seated on the floor, legs stretched out and half drunken bottle of vodka beside him.

They’re at Alex’s cabin and Kyle isn’t sure if it’s comfort or punishment to be here but either way it’s where he wants to be.

“I don’t really know.”

Alex is silent, letting Kyle steer the conversation. 

“I think I just wanted this one normal thing. When my dad died, I dealt with him by trying to do everything in my power to make him proud. I was already going to med school but I buckled down and graduated the top of my class. I stopped going out and I don’t even think I sped trying to follow every letter of the law.”

He’s been staring out into nothing but when he blinks back into the conversation he sees Alex’s eyes shine with emotion. 

“And then I find that damn handprint and my dad has a part in the literal torture of a species we didn’t even know existed.”

“You just wanted one normal thing,” Alex finishes for him when it’s obvious Kyle can’t.

Alex slides down with obvious effort and sits next to him, sliding the bottle away. 

“Well two childhood best friends, drunk and feeling sorry for themselves? That feels pretty normal to me.”

Kyle reluctantly smiles at that.

“And I do think I owe you a fishing trip.”

“I did ask out the girl.”

“That you did, even if she was a secret conspirator with my father.”

“I thought we were trying to keep things normal.”

“Fair enough, but in the interest of normal I have to let you know that your taste in liquor sucks. That’s like below bottom shelf stuff.”

Kyle laughs and just to prove a point takes a large swig from the bottle.

“You’re right, oh god that’s terrible. How did I not notice?”

“No idea man but it’s awful.”

And Kyle lets himself laugh, even if it all still hurts.  
—————————————————————

It’s been three weeks since their “break up” before he sees her again. He’d actively avoided her at work and she’d been doing the same and then he’d had his fishing trip with Alex. 

He’s surprised but prepared when he stops him in the parking lot.

“Thought you’d be gone by now, heard your last day was Wednesday.”

She nods. “It was and after this I swear I’ll be out of your hair.”

Kyle sighs, leans against his truck.

“Okay then, say whatever is you have to say.”

She doesn’t say anything. At least not at first, just hands him a flash drive.

“That’s everything I could get. Most of its heavily guarded but I got what I could. I’m not hacker but it’s better than nothing.”

Kyle states at the device in his hand.

“Why are you doing this?”

She glances around as if she’s afraid she’s being followed. He wouldn’t be surprised if she is.

“Because you’re a great person. And I’ve known that before our first date just watching you around here. Then I got to know you and you’re even better than I thought. You’re loyal and always striving to better and there’s no way someone like you is on the wrong side.”

He looks away and smoothly pockets the drive.

“Thank you.”

“I hope you get what you deserve Kyle. I really do.”

“Hard to know what’s the truth, coming from you.”

She nods her head. “And I get that. But I thought I was doing the right thing. Now I know I am.”

“Because of me?”

“Yes; at first. I did some research of my own; you’re right. He’s a sociopath.”

Kyle nods, knocks against the door of his truck.

“Anything else?”

“One more thing and I’m going I swear it.” She points to her car and sure enough he sees through her windows that her backseat is packed full of luggage and moving boxes.

“Your father, he was trying to stop it. All of it. So whatever you’ve learned about him, just know he was trying to do better. He thought he was doing the right thing and did everything he could when he realized he wasn’t.”

Kyle swallows and his eyes sting with tears. 

“Thank you, again.”

She nods, a tear falls down her face but she turns and leaves before another can follow. He watches her leave. Then he gets in his truck and drives to his father’s gravestone and it’s there he finally lets himself really and truly break down.

**Author's Note:**

> Kyle Valenti is a doll and I love his friendships with both Liz and Alex. I hope he gets all that he deserves.


End file.
